Reunion
by You'reMyKindOfTrouble
Summary: Set in 'The Farm' arc, but about twenty years ahead. By some coincidence their children, living in different communities, have been rostered onto the trading runs to the farm on the same day. A fluffy 'how I want it to be' reunion fic.


**I'm not really sure where the inspiration for this one came from!**

**It's set about twenty years after most of my 'The Farm' fics, and there are multiple communities within a few days of each other who have set up something of a trade route between themselves, and the children (all grown up now *wipes tear* My babies!) have shifted around, looking for a bit of adventure and space. Enjoy!**

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><p>The dark red car that pulled up to the gates was unfamiliar, and from her perch atop the stone wall Carol shouldered her rifle. As the car neared enough to hear her voice, she squinted at the tinted windows.<p>

"That's close enough!" She shouted. "Hands up and get out!" She squared her stance a little, finger resting lightly on the trigger as the door opened.

One male hand appeared, then another. She could hear the hum of conversation from within the car, and then the other door opened. Two slim hands popped out of the passenger side door.

She flicked her gaze back to the driver's side and waited for the driver to show himself.

A head of straight, dark auburn hair appeared as her son climbed out of the car.

"Hey, Mom." He grinned, leaning casually on the hood of the car.

"Caleb," She beamed. "How's life?"

"Smooth sailing so far." He quipped back, completing the pre-arranged code that said he wasn't under duress.

"Sit tight, I'm coming down!" She called, already heading for the ladder. She shimmied down as quickly as she could and reappeared a moment later, this time at ground level as she pulled on the rope that would open the gates. The car pulled in and stopped, and Caleb climbed out again.

He enveloped her in an enormous hug, resting his chin on top of her head. He'd grown taller than Daryl, even taller than Rick, if only by a little. At twenty-three, he was fit and smiling, thoroughly enjoying his role at another farm a day's drive away as one of the council leaders.

"Mom," He said, still hugging her tightly. "I have someone you need to meet." He turned to the pretty, dark-haired girl standing uncertainly behind him. "Molly, this is my mom, Carol. Mom, Molly."

"It's nice to meet you." Carol said, hugging the girl.

"You too." The girl replied shyly.

"You look very familiar, if you don't mind me saying." Carol said, holding her at arms length. "You're not Rosie and Abe's daughter?"

"That's me!" The girl smiled.

"How are they? I haven't seen them in years." Carol enthused.

"They're well. They said to say hello if I saw you or your husband."

"You two should go on up to the yard," Carol suggested. "There're people waiting to take supplies and give you the stuff we've got set aside."

"You're not coming?" Caleb asked.

"I'm waiting on the nor-west group; they're supposed to be coming today to trade. I'll come up once they get here. Go on," She shooed them with a laugh. "You father's rostered on for lunch duty so he'd probably appreciate the distraction."

Caleb laughed. "You've gotta see this." He said to Molly, ushering her into the car. He tapped the horn as they headed up the long driveway to the farmyard.

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><p>They pulled into the courtyard to see Judith, tall and willowy, shifting something around on the grill while Daryl had his head bowed over a small baby nearby but out of the smoke.<p>

"Something you wanna tell me, old man?" Caleb called with a grin as he opened the door for his girlfriend.

Daryl grinned as Caleb jogged towards him and shifted the baby to one arm so he could hug his son. "Hey, shrimp." He snorted at Calebs second comment, grasping him by the back of the neck as they embraced. "'S Jude's littlest. Called Andrea."

"After Mom's friend?"

"Yeah." Daryl bounced the baby lightly as she mewled. "Less of a loudmouth than th'original though. Gonna introduce your friend?" He nodded politely to Molly.

"Uh, sorry." Caleb brought her forward. "Molly, Daryl. Dad, Molly."

"Nice t'meet you." Daryl gave her a small smile, reaching for her to shake her hand. "You ain't Abe and Rosie's girl, are you?"

"That's me." She smiled dryly. "You're Daryl from Terminus, right?"

Daryl shrugged. "Guess so. Y'met Carol?"

"I was a little star-struck." She admitted. "Daddy talks about you all the time."

"They doin' okay?" Daryl asked, shifting his weight and leaning against the outside bench with his hip.

"You planning on cooking this, Daryl? Or am I 'volunteering' for lunch duty again?" Judith huffed, long dark hair slipping out of its tie and sticking to her forehead due to the heat of the grill.

"Y'can't do it, Judy?" Daryl almost wheedled. "I can't cook for shit and Andrea's all comfy."

"Whatever." Judith groused, but winked at Caleb when Daryl wasn't looking. Caleb rounded the grill and hugged her tightly. At only three years his senior, Judith was the closest in age to him besides Rory, but he had moved to the other community a few weeks after Caleb left for the compound to the south.

"Your parents?" Daryl prompted Molly.

"They're good." She nodded. "Uncle Eugene headed back to DC a few weeks ago and Mom and Daddy are enjoying being at home for a bit."

"A'ight." Daryl nodded in return, glad to hear good news of his old friends. When Eugene, Rosita, and Abe had made it to DC, they'd found a small group of scientists who had been working on 'flipping the switch', as Eugene liked to call it. They had only been waiting on Eugene's expertise to develop a vaccine.

The vaccine was successful, administered to living humans to prevent death by bite. Of course, people were still vulnerable to fatal mauling, but if the wounds were survivable they would not turn. People no longer turned post-mortem, and the walkers were almost rotted away. The issue was the limited ingredients available. They had only manufactured five thousand doses before running out of supplies, and finding more was an ongoing struggle.

Caleb had been vaccinated, aged six months, as had Rory and Judith. All children in identified communities were inoculated, as well as those who were elderly or very ill to prevent them turning and presenting a danger to their friends and families.

Molly and Judith chatted as Daryl talked with Caleb and cuddled baby Andrea until the other trader's car pulled in. Carol followed in her car shortly afterwards.

A streak of black hair and long limbs shot from the car and slammed into Caleb, spinning him around with the force of the collision. Loud laughter echoed around the courtyard as he hugged his best friend and roughhoused for a short while whilst everyone watched with indulgent smiles.

"Rory!" Judith called, tapping the counter-top with impatient fingers. "Where's my hug?" He rushed her and scooped her off the ground in a bear-hug, making her laugh. "Maggie and Glenn are due back any time now." She grinned when he put her down.

"I managed to get rostered on for the next few trips," He said, settling against the bench in between Daryl and Judith. "What's new with y'all?"

"'Side from Jude's lil' one… Not a lot." Daryl admitted. "Caleb finally found a girlfriend." He snickered.

Rory cackled. "Dude's got no game."

"Wonder where he got that from?" Carol teased as she went past. Daryl tapped her ankle with his boot as she went by, not hard enough to make her stumble but enough to make her growl playfully at him. "That, for the record," She said, cocking a hip. "Is _not _how you do it." Rory and Judith laughed out loud and Daryl rolled his eyes at them all.

Glenn and Maggie returned not long after lunch and were delighted to find their eldest child returned, if only for the night. They all sat around the tables to eat, their entire community of seventy talking and laughing amongst themselves. Carl came slinking in with Mika under his arm a little late and they both stopped to greet their returned younger 'brothers'.

Carol settled on the bench next to him, taking the baby and nuzzling her gently.

"I miss having a baby." She admitted with a cheeky smile.

"Tough." He replied, looking at her out of the corner of his eye for a moment before snickering. "You still got a baby." He jerked his head at Caleb, who was introducing Molly to Rory with a massive grin on his face.

"He's half a foot taller than me," She whined playfully. "I want a _little _baby…"

He snorted. "Too damn bad," He said, leaning over her shoulder to stroke the baby's silky cheek. "You ain't getting' one."

"You're mean." She teased.

He kissed her temple. "Yeah… You love it though."

"I do." She giggled, pecking his jaw.

"Give me my baby back before she gets cavities." Judith scolded, reaching for the infant. "I'm guessing the others are going to stay the night before they head back?"

"It's too late for them to start travelling now." Carol commented. "It'll be nice to have them back, at least for a little while."

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><p>Caleb sidled up wordlessly beside her while she was washing the lunch dishes and began to dry them, stacking them like he always did on the bench to be put away later. They washed and dried in companionable silence until the pile was clean and ready to be returned to the cupboard, and then Carol wrapped her arms around him.<p>

"I missed you, you know." She reprimanded gently, cupping his face in her palms.

"I missed you, too." He replied, grinning his cocky grin, the one Daryl only brought out on rare occasion that he'd inherited. "And Dad."

"He got you something for your birthday… He didn't want to send it with the traders in case it got mixed up."

Caleb smiled again, crinkling the skin at the corners of his bizarrely luminous green-blue eyes. She was struck by the beauty of her 'surprise baby', as she'd always referred to him. "I got him something, too! And something for you." He began digging through his pockets, talking as he did. "Dad's is in the back of the car but I have yours… Somewhere…" With a flourish, he pulled the velvet ring-box from his pocket. "Happy Birthday, Mom. I mean, I know it's not for a month but I don't know when I'll see you next."

"Sweetie, you didn't have to get me something!"

"I didn't have to trade for it," He teased. "I saw it on a run and it made me think of you. Open it." He prompted, looking excited.

She opened it, watching him transform into a wriggly, enthusiastic boy, like he'd been when he presented her with his first squirrel, aged six. The actual contents of the box took her breath away. It was a Cherokee Rose pendant, with individual petals shaped from polished white quartz, held together by filigree. It was attached to a fine silver chain and she removed it carefully from the box.

"Oh, sweetheart…" She breathed. "It's beautiful…"

Caleb shrugged, embarrassed. "It just reminded me of you… And that story you guys used to tell me, the one with Sophia? So I grabbed it."

"You sweet boy," She hugged him tightly. "I love you so much."

"Aw, Mom," He chuckled. "I love you too."

"What did you get your father?" She asked, surreptitiously wiping her eyes.

"Come see!" He headed for the car and popped the trunk open. He hefted the glossy black crossbow with a slight grunt for her to inspect.

"Ooh…" She mused as she ran her fingers over the cool surface. "I'm not an expert but this is _fancy._"

"I had to trade three watch shifts for it." He grimaced. "But it's nicer than the one he had last time I saw you."

"He'll love it." Carol assured him. "Come drop it at the house. You can give it to him before dinner once he's back from his watch shift."

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><p><strong>This was a very random headcanon that I had...<strong>

**Reviews are always appreciated! Review me! Do it!**


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